It was long after seven o'clock when I found myself walking home in the grey drizzle of the early morning. As was my custom when in town during the last few years I rented a bedroom at my club in St James's, and the apparition of myself in evening dress at the club doorway at that unusual hour of return evoked a momentary look of surprise on the face of the well-trained porter who was then sweeping the hall in his shirt-sleeves. Making my way up to my bed-chamber, I proceeded to carry out the first portion of my late instructions from d'Aragno. This consisted in swallowing a tumblerful of cold water in which I had previously dissolved the contents of a small packet he had given me before leaving the hotel. After that I undressed and crept into bed. On arising again I felt light as air, with the additional sensation of being several inches taller than my actual stature. My mind too had become singularly clear and active, so that I was enabled to carry out all my intended preparations with ease. First of all I placed my valuables in my trunk, which I locked; then I dressed myself in a tweed suit, and made my way downstairs to the club smoking-room, where I quietly undertook the final details I considered necessary before my departure from this world. I had no parents living; my brothers and sisters were all married and had their own homes; I had no debts, and my few outstanding bills could be easily settled by my executors, for some few years before I had signed a will that I deemed fair and adequate. There was nobody to lose in any material sense by my sudden demise; on the contrary, my brothers would obtain possession of my property, for I was the owner of a small landed estate and of a meagre income that was the source of secret but intense bitterness to me under this present oppression of plutocracy. I had therefore no more arduous task before me than to compose a letter to my favourite brother, so that he could easily infer from its contents that I had decided to make away with my life. This might have proved an unpleasant theme for composition under different circumstances, but on this occasion I experienced no difficulty in expressing myself to my own satisfaction.